KOREA HAS THE MOST GORGEOUS LANDSCAPE ON THE PLANET. I will brook no arguments. Holy stark and sprawling vistas! By, of course, the sea. See Subject.

I find myself in a bind, of sorts. I've now watched "Hwangjini" and "Dae Jang Geum" about twice through, apiece, and I'm having the damndest time trying to find anything similar. I've surfeited on K-Drama set in modern times, for starters; there are a couple of standouts (My Name Is Kim Sam-Soon for one), but the plots are getting repetative and every single time, EVERY TIME, in the inevitable love triangle, I wind up backing the wrong horse.

On the other hand, "Hwangjini" and "Dae Jang Geum" are the only two historical K-Dramas I've found so far that 1. focus on women and women's lives, and 2. do not have a huge sword battle every two seconds. (Both of these are based on the -- highly fictionalized!! -- lives of real women in the Chosun era who rose to the top of their field.)

Which is WEIRD, coming from me, I know. I'm the one who watched "Troy" three times (in the theater) to help myself cope with Bush's "re"-"election." I love epic cinematic battles. Big, huge, grossly oversimplified drama, yum. Especially epic cinematic battles with men in long hair and skirts. Especially, apparently, epic cinematic battles with men who are Brad Pitt and Eric Bana in long hair and skirts. It's beautiful -- first, it's fake; second, it's choreographed (if it's not lovely and in synch, I'm not watching!); and third, short skirts! (It occurs to me now that I prefer the one-on-one battles in LoTR. Not enough bare knees to justify the huge epic okay I'm rambling now.)

It seems to me that the women's stories give you more. More insights into the intricacies of the culture, more characterization, more subtle ways of winning and losing a "battle." Plus, with the two I've mentioned, unlike most of the ones I've seen set in modern times, the protag's overall goal is not just to have a wedding. Love enters into the story, but always toward the end and it is never the main focus, although it is important and can be tragic when it's lost.

Jang Geum's goal is to become the best cook (and later, doctor) in Korea -- in order to avenge her parent's death, in an arena where the palace cooks (and in particular, one corrupt family of cooks -- the men become ministers and the women go to the palace, both of which seem to require the same amount of written exams and Confucian philosophy) essentially control politics in the entire land by choosing foods that can heal or make someone ill, promote or prevent fertility, or can cause someone to fall in or out of favor with persons of power.

Jini's goal is to dance, which is more complicated than it sounds, because in order to do this with a modicum of freedom and social mobility, she has to become a kisaeng (a precursor to the Japanese geisha system, but with more mandatory prostitution and lower status). Yeah, um, It's more complicated than it sounds. And there are also written exams.

There are, for the record, HUGE amounts of Bechdel-test-passing in these two dramas.

And hanbok. Holy father, the gorgeousness of the hanbok. 0_0

What, I like pretty dresses.

But now I have on my plate "Emperor of the Sea," "The King and I" (not that one! This one is the story of three childhood friends who become the King, the Queen, and the most famous eunuch in history), "Dae Joyeuong," and "The Iron Empress" -- and apart from "The King and I" it looks like being a long strech of battlebattlebattle, landchangelandchangelandchange, and oh how I weep for the cute woman I left behind. I could be prejudging. But all of these are definitely battle-heavy, when I want court politics.

That and the fact that it's kinda hard to get hold of these things. ^___^

How to Kill Your Imaginary Friends, on: High Stakes Hippie Love Fests. Hee. Not what I expected when I clicked. (The blog is about how to kill off your characters without making real live doctors tear their hair out at your tomfoolery, JOSS WHEDON.)

This struck a chord with me. (It's also kind of standing in my WAY just now, when I'm trying to craft an antecedent-action family conflict and so don't have much leeway to really elaborate, but am, at the same time, unwilling to make anyone a bona fide villain in said conflict.)

The shows I've liked best are the ones full of "nakama," where family is something you don't just get, you have to create it, and for that it's all the stronger.

Methos is on "Caprica"! Methos is on "Caprica," being tough, aging beautifully and speaking very, very questionable American! Oh Peter Wingfield, how I have missed you. I may have to dig out the Highlander DVDs now...

I'm concerned with how quickly I've gotten sucked into "Caprica," because in many ways, it is... not good. It's taking me a long while to put my finger on why. (I'm indecisive. ^__^) I have a lot of "I don't likes" but not so much the detailed explanations behind these.

I really don't mind that it's a prequel and we therefore know the outcome. I like that sort of thing, the inexorable drumbeat feeling. It feels like watching "Rozencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead." You want them to live, and if it's well put together enough you can almost allow yourself to believe that they will.( quite spoilery of the first 20 minutes of the 2-hour pilot )

T-N Coates: No Black People on Seinfeld, Please: "I don't racialize those moments to take away anything, but to say this--I am fucking sick of hearing about black people in the 60s. At least I am sick of hearing about in the way we discuss, like only Abraham Lincoln happened before Martin Luther King, like everyone marched on Washington, or grew an Afro. I am just tired.

I want to hear about white people, now. Not their mythologizing and blind glamor, and not their cynical, infantile backlashing against that blind glamor (No more whining about how much the suburbs suck, please.) I want to hear something humble about a world I can't even envision, because here is the thing: If you tell me about that world, if you tell me something I don't know, and tell me about it in all its lush beauty, and rank hypocrisy, I will see myself in you. You don't have to show me my pedigree. Just show me yours. Don't try to be "inclusive." Just try to be human. Just tell me a story."

Weird dreams, probably due to waking up every two hours for who knows why -- last part I remember is having access to these new and exciting sweet limes -- huge and mostly juice, not pulp, bright green and so sweet that you could eat them directly or make the best limeade. Mmmmm, limeade. I think I'm dehydrated.

Just finished "Deathwish" by Rob Thurman, which...Hmm. I do believe she is quite hitting her stride. Enjoyed it very much.

I'm having a bit of sword-and-sorcery movie withdrawal. There's only so many times you can rewatch various versions of Lord of the Rings, after all. I suppose I could whip out "Troy," except it is a little short on orcs. I would settle for minotaurs. I'm in a mood. I was even willing to whip out a press copy of 300 (French and unsubbed, therefore...not quite useful!), when I realized it was at work in some cubby or other (and also, not so much with the minotaurs) -- so I found myself flipping through channels and captivated by a sudden glance of Iolaus -- Iolaus!!! conspiring evil! -- for Lo, I was watching the second half of Legend of the Seeker.

(Ah, New Zealand. You are our Fairyland, aintcha.)

(So, sort me out, then -- there is an actual series of Terry Goodkind's, er, Randian opus? Really? Hoh-kay. Good to know. All righty.)

(Was there a hint of libertarianism in Xena that I missed?)

There's a certain cheestastic joy that I was once able to take in Xena, and Roar, and even Beastmaster (and to an extent Jack of All Trades/Cleopatra Insert Numbers Here) that I don't seem to be able to anymore. I think it might be that shows in the same vein (by the same production group) made now are just as cheesy, but have no sense of their own inherent funniness. (Okay, Beastmaster had a pretty bombastic seriousness going on there, but it also had that hot half-naked guy, and also Emilie de Ravin being evil and Jackson Raine, who was adorable and amusing and I think part Cambodian.)

In other news: Finished Nation by Terry Pratchett over the weekend. Brother's still got it.

Threw me for a bit because I was for some reason expecting a Discworld novel, but meh, that's my problem.

I don't really have anything else to say, WHICH IS VERY ODD FOR ME. And disorienting. Whatever, it's a charming, touching, wise, and melancholy book, and you should read it. (A rather quick read to boot.)

In brief -- an island boy and an English (alternative-universe) girl lose everything in a horrible storm. Then they build everything over again. And rail at the gods a bit. And do some science. And discover some history. This is not a romance. There now. Go forth and obtain.

(I'm having such a fun Pratchett immersion, having listened to Tiffany Aching books-on-tape all throughout the Halloween season. ^_____^)

(Absolutely NOTHING in that promo is in the actual series -- which is fairly comforting, really, because it is DISTURBING that such an ultimately heartwarming and sweet show has promos like these -- but damn what a promo. And think! The people who created that are also pouring their creativity into the actual show. So, more comfort. ^___^)(And MORE comfort -- this season, they let Mitch Hewer dance! Dance for me, baby...)

You would think that after the first X-Files movie -- hell, after my brief glimpses of "X-Files" itself -- I would learn to take extra steps to avoid shows that inflict vermin on me. Particularly, shows that inflict long wormy vermin that want to bite off people's head, burrow into their flesh and BREED, and crawl around behind their eyes -- ANYTHING of that repulsive nature. I had the *expletive* sense to avoid "Slither," and THAT had Nathan Fillion in it. I have recurring bad dreams to this day about a nature special I saw in my early teens where a snake tried (unsucessfully) for about half and hour to swallow a slug. I am AWARE that I do not do well with mucus.

So you would, then, rightly wonder WHY the hell I continue to inflict "Primeval" upon myself, which has now pulled this stunt on me I think THREE TIMES.

Lovely. Now I can dream about freaking "Alien" aliens slowly laying eggs down my throat while I cry in choked, unable-to-scream silence, or lie awake for an hour or so comparing/contrasting how it would be much nicer to be torn apart in a straightforward manner by a saber-toothed tiger.

> Sarah Michelle Gellar and her hit show Buffy The Vampire Slayer has been> blamed for over 50,000 women leaving the Christian churches in England.> > Dr. Kristin Aune, from the University of Derby has said young women are not> going to church because they “link it with traditional values” and they are> into witch craft because of the show.> > She says, “In short, women are abandoning the church. Because of its focus> on female empowerment, young women are attracted by Wicca, popularised by> the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Young women tend to express> egalitarian values and dislike the traditionalism and hierarchies they> imagine are integral to the church.”> > She also believes that women feel the church denies their sexual desires and> that work/family lives are also the reason.> > Aune got the numbers from the English Church Census while researching for> her new book “Women and Religion in the West”>

It is simply ASTOUNDING the lengths people will go to to find a single, controllable culprit for any societal trend.

Nothing about how more and more women are financially independent than ever before, which lends itself to seeking other forms of independence. Or maybe that the scientific mindset nudges people away from looking for arbitrary supernatural authority. Or reproductive freedom. Or the fact that marriage (or more and more commonly partnership) is optional and love-based instead of financially and socially necessary (for the safety net of heirs and of stable and/or influential in-laws), which makes far more people of either (any?) gender more willing to go it alone and less willing to be told what to do...

No, it's gotta be BUFFY. Get rid of that and everything will revert to the wholesome (and wholly fictional) purity and awesomeness of 1912.

(Plus it TOTALLY DISREGARDS THE MISTS OF AVALON. ^_____^)(What? That's what *I* saw sending people over to Wicca and pseudoWicca back in the 90s, when mentioning Buffy love would still get you laughed at.)

So, I finally saw it. And damn. That was... effective. All you guys who have extolled this show's merits to me -- you were absolutely right. (I don't think I'd be able to sit through another episode though. As it was I had to mute all the killy bits...) *flips back to visually-vague Wire In The Blood*